Lance Briggs defends taking personal day for opening of restaurant

In one of the greater non-stories of NFL preseason, Chicago Bears linebacker Lance Briggs was forced to answer questions about his decision to take a personal day on Monday to attend the opening of a restaurant he owns, the Double Nickel Smokehouse, in Elk Grove, Calif.

Briggs asked for the day off a while ago and head coach Marc Trestman granted him permission for a personal day.

So what’s the big deal? Well, some fans thought Briggs shouldn’t have taken a practice day off less than a week before the Bears’ opening game, so Briggs had to answer questions about it, even though neither his coach nor the organization had any problem with him missing the practice.

“I think the question that’s more important than that is that as a guy who has been here over 12 years, I’ve poured my heart out on the field every game and every play,” he said. “So I think if you’re questioning whether I cared more to be there than to be here, my history has always spoken for me. So you can take that how you want to.”

“Well, I didn’t make the decision (on the date),” Briggs explained. “My partner made the decision. But it was Labor Day. And on Labor Day, as you know, most people do not work.”

So a guy went through all the proper channels to get permission from his coach to miss a day of practice, he gets that permission, the coach is not mad at him for missing the practice, and yet, here we are.

‘If you’re questioning whether I cared more to be there than to be here, my history has always spoken for me.’

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